A little twist on the usual carrot cake and cream cheese icing combination – adding fresh orange juice and zest, makes these cupcakes extra special! If you’re a fan of the classic flavor though, you can just omit the extra ingredients.
I made these for two family gatherings and they were a hit at both. They’re packed full of goodness and flavor and I couldn’t resist adding some cute toppers from Meri Meri.
A few notes about the icing. It’s a looser icing than buttercream, for example, so doesn’t hold its shape as well when piped. I used a Wilton 1M piping tip, but you really don’t need to pipe the icing at all. Using a butter knife or offset spatula to spread the icing on, it looks just as nice!
Onto the recipe, enjoy!
xo,
Marian
p.s. The cream cheese icing is below the cupcake recipe
Carrot Cake Cupcakes Recipe
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 extra large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 2 tsp ground baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 cups grated carrots
- 1/4 cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Beat the oil, sugar, and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs, mixing briefly between each egg.
- In a different bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt cinnamon and nutmeg).
- With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the grated carrots and raisins to the remaining flour, mix well, and add to the batter. Mix until just combined.
- Using an ice cream scoop, spoon the batter into cupcake liners (in your muffin pan), until each is 3/4 full.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.
Notes
Orange Cream Cheese Icing Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb cream cheese, softened or room temperature
- 1/2 lb unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 tbsp orange zest zest, from one orange
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice from one orange
- 1 tsp white food gel coloring (optional)
- 1 lb icing sugar (confectioner's sugar), sifted Add more icing sugar to thicken icing, as desired
Instructions
- Cream the cream cheese, butter, orange zest and orange juice in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Slowly add the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
- Add 1 tsp white food gel coloring and mix until incorporated.
- Add more icing sugar to thicken icing, if desired.
- Once cupcakes have cooled, ice as desired.
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